What's New Archive ● 2011 ● February
What's New on the Secular Web?
See also: Events & The News Wire
February 21, 2011
Added Review of The Spiritual Doorway in the Brain (2011) by Dan Ferrisi to the Immortality and Magical Thinking & the Paranormal pages in the Modern Documents section of the Secular Web Library.
Professor of Neurology Kevin Nelson has long had a fascination with near-death experiences. In his new book, The Spiritual Doorway in the Brain, Nelson provides a deeply neurologically driven interpretation of these extraordinary and often spiritual episodes. In this review, Dan Ferrisi analyzes Nelson's principal arguments about how unusual brain activity might explain near-death experiences and finds them quite persuasive. The human brain, the most highly evolved organ of which we know, is capable of bizarreness far greater than we could ever imagine, and Ferrisi finds that Nelson's scientifically literate book has much to teach us about it.
February 20, 2011
New in the Kiosk: A Wikipedia Editor Looks at the Bible (2011) by Michael Young
Skeptics say the Bible is difficult to understand, that its structure and narrative don't make sense, that it contradicts itself, even within the same book. But how did the authors let this happen? Why did the ancients themselves produce what can look like such an unevenly edited jumble?
February 14, 2011
New in the Bookstore: Darwin, God and the Meaning of Life: How Evolutionary Theory Undermines Everything You Thought You Knew (2010) by Steve Stewart-Williams.
This accessible, engaging, and timely book brings together philosophy and evolutionary psychology in a way that will open up debate between the two disciplines. Is religion compatible with evolution? Is religious faith intellectually flawed? Steve Stewart-Williams addresses these and other fundamental questions raised by Darwin's theory of evolution. Drawing on philosophy, biology and the exciting new field of evolutionary psychology, he makes a strong case for a naturalistic, atheistic view of the universe. Topics covered include: God, life after death, whether we are superior to other animals, the meaning of life, voluntary euthanasia, and the proper treatment of other animals.
New in the Bookstore: Churches Ad Hoc: A Divine Comedy (1998) by Herman Krieger.
Now for something different... With its eighty-six duotone illustrations and a foreword by Kern Trembath (Assistant Chairman, Department of Theology, University of Notre Dame) this is a humorous look at churches in America by photographer Herman Krieger.
February 11, 2011
The Secular Web has been nominated as one of the top five finalists for Best Atheist Web Site in the About.com 2011 Readers' Choice Awards!
Please cast your vote for the Secular Web anytime between today, February 11, and March 8. Winners will be announced on March 15, 2011.